Lecture Of Love
by Sagi-chan
Summary: [what-if fic] What if Naruto had made it all the way over to Gaara after fighting him in the forest? [one shot] [yaoi can be ignored] [might have spoilers]


**Disclaimer:** _The most painful part of being a fanfiction author: ...no, I don't own these characters.  
_**Kuroi-chan's disclaimer:** _The nickname Sagi-chan is copyrighted to Kuroi. Any other who uses it will be mocked, laughed at, and will ultimately suffer at the hands of her vengeful and depressing wrath. That, and she'll nag me into yelling at you._  
**Saaski-chan's disclaimer:** _the nickname Leeni-chan is copyrighted to Saaski. Use it and die.  
_  
  
**AN **_Yes, yes... Sagi really should be working on one of the stories that she's already started, but the one-shot oppertunity reared it's tiny head and squeeled: "write a Naruto what-if fic!!" So... she did. Or, she will [considering that she's writing this authors note before writing the actual one-shot]. It's just a what if of if Naruto had managed to get to Gaara after whooping his ass. What would have happened? ... well... let's see how this plays out._  
  
_With a hint of planned _**NaruGaara**_ this time.  
  
_  
===  
  
**Lecture of Love  
**  
  
He had finally managed to beat him. It had taken everything he had - down to the very last drop of chakra, but he wasn't finished yet. Naruto slowly dragged himself across the forest floor towards his fallen opponant. No, he wasn't finished yet. He still believed that Gaara wasn't all bad. There had to be a reason for his words.  
  
_I fight only for myself and I love only myself. I exist only to kill every other human beside myself._  
  
If Naruto were a bit smarter, he might have remembered that Gaara had told him exactly why he believed in those words.  
  
But as for now, he was a bit busy dragging himself along the ground towards said red head. A bit too busy to notice his fallen foe's sudden fearful expression. He did, however, hear Gaara's shouted words of:  
  
"D-don't come closer!"  
  
"Gu..." Naruto moaned, forcing his body weight onto his elbows in order to lift himself up and look into Gaara's frightened eyes. His head raised slightly, he continued forward, determined to make his words heard. His strength gave out for a moment and when he lifted his head again, he knew that there were tears dripping down from his eyes.  
  
"Being alone... being imcomplete..." he whispered, still moving closer to his target. "What you must feel... what your pain must be... I can understand that."  
  
Gaara's eyes widened, the fear held in the clear green orbs vanishing as shock took it's place. Fear returned as Naruto continued dragging himself closer. "S-stay away!" He attempted to say, the words sticking in his throat, knowing that they would prove to be useless.  
  
"But for the people who are precious to me," Naruto continued, still pushing forward with his feet. "...to be able to help them, after they helped me escape from the darkness of being alone all my life..." His earlier words which would have ended up being a threat were tossed aside, new words flowing from his mouth in an attempt to explain how the two were similar. How _Naruto_ could understand how Gaara could feel incomplete.  
  
"Those people... they've rescued me from the hell of being alone. They've acknowledged my existance as something different than the beast inside of me. That's why I protected them until the very end. That's why I'll die before letting anybody hurt them."  
  
Gaara's eyes widened even more. "Even until the end you only fought for them?!" He asked, not understanding why. "Are they truely that important to you?"  
  
Naruto didn't answer in favor of continuing to push himself forward. By this time he was right next to Gaara, his face hidden somewhere near the red heads chest. He then made use of his nearly dead muscles to push himself upright and kneel over the red head, his head bowed in complete exhaustion.  
  
"Ne, Gaara," Naruto whispered, one too-tired arm moving to brush against the "_**ai**_" tattoo. "You said you only love your self. Fight only for yourself. ...You don't have any precious people do you? Life shouldn't be like that. I... I don't see you as just a demon carrier. You're a _person_ with likes and dislikes. You have things to fear and things to charish. You... don't need to just be a demon carrier." His whispered voice got even softer, as even talking was beginning to tire him.  
  
By this point, Gaara was only able to stare at the boy kneeling above him. The boy telling him that he wasn't a demon, but a person. He didn't understand. He couldn't understand. It wasn't... _right_. He _was_ just a demon carrier, he _was_ just somebody to be feared. His exhausted mind was too fuzy to really understand what was going on. Naruto's words were being heard, but not understood.  
  
"That's enough, Naruto," a new voice cut in. "Sakura's alright now..."  
  
"No!" Naruto hissed, not moving at all. "_Gaara_ isn't alright."  
  
"He was trying to _kill_ you!"  
  
"I don't **care**, leave us alone Sasuke!"  
  
"But..."  
  
"Please, I'm bound to pass out in a minute or two, just give me until then."  
  
Gaara heard a sigh, obviously meaning Sasuke had given in to the blonds demands. Only a minute more until Naruto passed out? He could handle that right?  
  
It turned out that Naruto didn't actually have much else to say, but he did have some hidden strength left in him, because he suddenly dropped forward. Gaara thought that the boy had just passed out on top of him, until he felt two arms worming their way around his body in what very few would call a hug. Gaara tensed, not quite sure if he accepted the _"hug"._  
  
"Fighting for yourself if too lonely," Naruto whispered, his face once again hidden near Gaara's chest, he inched a little bit closer. "...fight for your sibblings some random stranger or a rock or ...something instead. Fight with everything you have for that person... or rock."  
  
Gaara, still not understanding, decided the hug wasn't too bad and just sort of laid on the ground, waiting for the last of Naruto's strength to disappear.  
  
And Naruto, quickly falling into the darkness of his own mind, heard only a faint: "I'll fight for _you_ then..." accomponied by two arms coming to wrap around his own body in a _"hug"_ before he lost his weak grip on consciousness.  
  
**End.  
  
**  
  
===  
  
**AN **_Ano... I think I did pretty well with that one, actually. Only a few sarcastic remarks thrown in_ [which were actually just me, mocking myself.]. _Um... I was using the manga_ [chapter 97] _for this. That's where most of the dialouge from the beginning came from. After a point I basically said "f%$ it" and went in my own direction. That's actually the point where it says something along the lines of throwing away his threatening words... or something. The ending is also semi-stolen from Fruits Basket_ [which I've haven't actually seen, but I've got AMV's that look a bit like it]_. So... yeah.  
_  
  
**_No sequal. This was whimsical. I'm just waiting for an AMV to download.  
  
  
_**  
  
**Just let me know what you think in a review. Hint. Hint.**


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